This is a beautiful vegetable and pasta soup that my parents used to eat in Rome. Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired.
Yum Yum! I had the most incredible soup while on my honeymoon in Rome. Since returning I have craved it and have been disappointed by the American version which resembles Chili with pasta. This recipe is as close as I could find with few minor changes: I omitted the tomato juice and used 1 can of crushed tomatoes instead. I used Great Northern Beans instead of the red beans. I used fresh basil. I used Acini de pepe pasta. I added 1 cup fresh chopped spinach. I also added 2 more cups of chicken broth. Delicious!! - 25 Jun 2004 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
This was very good, but with modifications: hubby and I love this soup from Olive Garden, so I used 2 lbs. of ground beef instead of the proscioutto, and I doubled the cayenne and added a couple drops of tabasco sauce for added quick. Also, I didn't have tomato juice, so I used two cans of diced tomatoes and one can of tomato sauce. Lastly, I threw in a little brown sugar to carmelize the onions as they were sauteing. Lastly, top with freshly grated parmesean! Fabulous! (I tried the recipe exactly as written the first time, but it was bland, so I couldn't quite give it a full 5 stars). - 02 Jan 2006 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
Delicious!!! I made a couple of changes, that you might want to try though. I added a can of crushed tomatoes and a small can of tomato paste to thicken the soup slightly. But the flavor was not changed one bit. - 09 Mar 2001 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)